Early South Indian steel mace of exceptional weight

An extremely heavy all iron mace from South India. This massive weapon takes the form of a spindle shaped steel rod, chiselled allover with decoration. The long shaft chiselled with a spiral twist for its length, the head with facets chiselled to each face with repeating tendril and leaf design. There are bands at intervals originally inlaid with brass, some traces remaining. The grip with a loop to its end for attaching a lanyard strap, the far end with a raised bud. This mace has a rich patina showing great age, weapons such as this were used in India from medieval periods onwards which makes dating this piece difficult, however we approximate it to be likely 16th or 17th century, possibly older. Overall length 94 cms, the weight possibly 4-5 kgs. indo persian